Week 1 of the 2026 college football season is officially in the books, and every team in the SEC picked up a win in their first game of the new campaign, making it the only conference to go undefeated in the first week of play.
While the conference went 16-0, not all performances were equal. Some teams looked untouchable while others struggled, and ESPN analyst Cole Cubelic broke down which by sharing his takeaways for each team on social media.
Cubelic’s main takeaway for most of the conference was that they handled their business. He praised Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell for how he conducted that Tide’s offense in his first career start, said he loved the mix he saw on offense from Georgia, called the Kentucky offense under first-year head coach Will Stein “smooth,” and said that the quarterbacks for both Mississippi State and Missouri looked confident and in control.
He described LSU‘s dominant win over Clemson as “tone-setting,” and said Florida‘s dominant performance over Florida Atlantic was an impressive first win for the Gators.
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On Arkansas‘s 31-14 win over North Alabama, Cubelic said the offense “got bogged down” and the quarterback play was “off and on.” He also said that Auburn has “plenty to work on” after their nail-biter against Baylor in Atlanta.
For the rest of the conference, Cubelic more or less said they all handled their business and did what they were supposed to do against inferior opponents, and that he will be posting his Ole Miss takeaways later in the week.
